Scholarship Delay for Costa Rica Students in Need; Let’s Play Pass the Blame

Costa Rica News – Do you ever notice in Costa Rica that it is never anyone’s fault for something not being done. There is always someone or something to blame to shift accountability to another party. When it comes to the Costa Rican government and its entities; they are masters at this game. But this time it seems like there is a reasonable excuse….but of course no one will be held accountable.

FONABE, the Board of the National Scholarship Fund says they are not to blame for the delay in giving out scholarships to poor students. There are 500 schools yet to give in the data needed to process the awards.

They blame this on the directors as well as the 21 school day strike back in May, which has caused delays in administrative and educational timelines. The board’s treasurer, Rosaura Sanchez, pointed out that it is impossible to give the scholarships out if they have not received the reports from schools, to know who needs the funds.

Sonia Marta Mora, the Education Minister created a committee yesterday which will be responsible for fixing the chaos that FONABE is facing. They will have to create some sort of management plan for getting the scholarships in the right hands, as well as sanctioning those who somehow got access to the funds for kids who were not actually in need.

Only 314 schools have sent in the data. This is one of the main problems, and they are investigating other issues, as well, such as problems in the computer system. Some parents were given appointments for next year. Urgent cases, such as for those students with disabilities, need appointments before 2015.

Hopefully this new committee will work it out. There are 68,000 available scholarships that have yet to be given out.